Five takeaways from the leaders' SME chamber debate

Robert Abela and Alex Borg faced off for the second time in two days on Tuesday, in a debate organised by the Malta Chamber of SMEs.

The debate was a noticeably more placid affair than Monday’s rowdy university debate. Gone was the football terrace-style chanting of leaders’ names, replaced by the clinking of coffee cups and quiet murmur of polite chatter.

Also missing were the leaders of Malta’s three smaller political parties, with only Abela and Borg taking the stage on Tuesday.

But there was no shortage of political figures in the room, with several members of the cabinet and shadow cabinet spotted in the crowd.

Nevertheless, the debate sparked to life at times, with each leader throwing their fair share of punches.

Here are five key takeaways from the debate:

1. It’s the stability, stupid

Robert Abela came out firing, pitching Labour as the only party capable of providing businesses the stability they need.

The secret to Malta’s economic success, according to Abela? “Confidence and trust, but also stability,” he said.

On the flip side, Abela insisted, a PN government would torpedo the economic stability nurtured over the past decade.

Abela pointed to a series of numerical blunders he said plagued PN’s pledges, including a dispute over how much a PN tax cut will cost and “miscalculations” over the party’s energy plans.

Worst of all, Abela argued, is PN’s promise to build a petrol station in the sea.

“First we were told it would generate €450 million, on Monday we heard it’s €350 million, then the manifesto shows that it will not generate a single cent over the first five years”.

And a pledge to create industries in the new space sector, initially slated to generate €20 million, is now listed as generating €500 million in the party’s manifesto. “Where is this figure coming from?” Abela asked. “Is it falling from space?”

“How can you be trusted to lead an economy of €25 billion with these sort of basic mistakes?” Abela questioned. “God forbid I don’t scrutinise your numbers. When the finance minister goes to the EU he goes with realistic numbers, not empty promises.”

Robert Abela pitched Labour as the party capable of providing stability Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

2. ‘Where are the new economic niches, Mr Prime Minister?’

Leaning on his portrayal of his party as a breath of fresh air, Alex Borg slammed Abela’s “politics of fear and negativity”.

Abela’s talk of stability is just stagnation in disguise, Borg argued.

“We have not heard of any new economic niches from government, only promises to strengthen economic niches that PN created years ago,” he rebutted.

And Labour’s track record was hardly something to boast about, he argued.

“The track record is greylisting,” Borg said.

“Go to a bank to try get a loan,” he told businesses in the audience. “You’re treated like a criminal just because you want to invest in your business.”

The PN, on the other hand, was looking to kick start new industries within the fields of data, AI, new space and bunkering, he said.

3. Business friendly? Don’t you doubt it

Both leaders had clearly done their homework, seizing every possible opportunity to pitch their party as a partner on which business can rely.

Abela turned to the topic in his very first intervention.

“Together we have overcome the most challenging times, from the pandemic to wars, inflation and the energy crisis,” he told businesses. “Each time, we emerged stronger than before”.

He doubled down shortly afterwards, telling the crowd “you are the catalyst of this country’s economic success, our job was simply to support you”.

Meanwhile, questions from entrepreneurs in the audience were regularly met with superlatives (“You’re an example of the Maltese dream, starting from humble beginnings to rise to the top,” one bemused audience member was told).

Borg, was similarly effusive at times, describing SMEs as the backbone of Malta’s economy.

“You make up 99% of businesses in Malta,” he told the businesses in the crowd. “When you support businesses, you are also helping workers and families”.

Several of the party’s pledges, from slashing personal and corporate tax to raising the ceiling on VAT exemption, were designed to make businesses’ lives easier, Borg said.

And businesses would also benefit from PN’s governance reforms, he argued.

“We know how you businesses work so hard to be above board, then MPs can hide their assets. Under us, MPs' assets will be published for all MPs and their partners,” he promised.

Alex Borg accused the government of failing to introduce new economic sectors. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

4. Who is leading Labour?

Throughout Monday’s university debate, Abela frequently pointed to his “competent and credible” team of ministers as an asset to his government.

On Tuesday, Borg sought to turn the tables, questioning whether Abela was being undermined by his own team.

Take PN’s pledge to slash VAT for restaurants to 7%, Borg said. “I know you want to do this, but the minister sitting in front of you (Clyde Caruana) refused, so you had to stop,” he told Abela.

The same goes for Labour’s mass transport plans, he said.

“Some describe it as ‘silly season’, others say it is happening,” Borg said. “On the other hand, we have a transport plan that we will start implementing immediately, the time for studies has passed”.

“Who carried out your transport studies?” Abela rebutted. “You cannot even build a petrol station in the sea in five years, let alone a mass transport system”.

Clyde Caruana as just one of several cabinet and shadow cabinet members following the debate. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

5. Copycat, copycat

Both leaders spent much of the debate reeling off a series of almost-interchangeable dry pledges they say will help businesses grow – a tax cut here, a rebate there, while simplifying processes and slashing bureaucracy.

Given the similarities, it was no surprise to hear Abela and Borg accuse each other of nicking their ideas.

Abela repeated a jibe, first made during Monday’s debate, about the PN’s manifesto being flagged for plagiarism if it were put through plagiarism-detection software Turnitin.

Borg, on his part, echoed this argument, pointing to several Labour pledges he said were copied.

“First they criticised us about the succession tax, then they tried to copy us. The same thing happened with making cancer medication free,” he said. “And when we promised a child trust fund they told us we’re copying Trump, then they included something similar in their manifesto”.

“How could we have copied it if we published it before you?” Abela said. “And you copied it wrong, to boot”.